CBD short for CannaBiDiol – it is arguably the most important chemical compound in cannabis. It has no psychotropic effect.
CBD is a cannabinoid which are are chemical compounds found in the cannabis plant. Cannabinoids interact with receptors in the brain and body to create various effects. There are over 200 cannabinoids in the cannabis plant.
The Cannabis plant contains both THC and CBD in abundance but many strains can have more or less of either cannabinoid. Researchers have found that CBD reduces some of the effects of THC therefore enhancing the “safety profile” of cannabis. In this capacity, CBD is referred to as “an entourage molecule.”
To quote Pisanti, Malfitano et al: “CBD is undoubtedly the more interesting cannabinoid with a lot of reported pharmacological effects in several models of pathologies, ranging from inflammatory and neuro-degenerative diseases, to epilepsy, autoimmune disorders like multiple sclerosis, arthritis, schizophrenia and cancer.”
The human body (along with other mammals) has a cannabinoid receptor system (often referred to as “endogenous,” meaning within the body.) This is called the “endo” cannabinoid system and it’s receptors very closely match the cannabis plants native “phyto”cannabinoid system
The simple way of understanding endo-cannabinoid receptors it to think of them as switches, that are activated by a specific chemical (in this case the cannabinoid CBD). The activation of the receptor produces specific effects based on their location in the body, and cannabinoid receptors located in areas of the brain.
The cannabis plant produces cannabinoids that are defined as secondary metabolites – which means they are chemicals the plant produces that have no primary role on the plant’s development. Its is believed that these secondary metabolites act as an immune system for the plant, fending off predators, parasites, and pests.
Because humans (and many other animals) have receptor systems that CBD binds to, we can also get the benefits of cannabinoids for our health.
This system, called the endocannabinoid system (or ECS), is a group of specialized signaling chemicals (keys) and their receptors (locks) – and the metabolic enzymes that produce and break them down. These endocannabinoid chemical signals act on brain and immune cell receptors (CB1 and CB2) that plant cannabinoids like cannabidiol (CBD) and Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) act on.
